Outlook: For the second straight year, the Tigers are forced to replace their two best players from the previous season and are something of an unknown quantity with a roster filled with untested young players.

Brownell

The good news for coach Brad Brownell is that, as was the case in 2011-12, he has two proven senior leaders around which to build. In undersized center Devin Booker and talented, but enigmatic forward Milton Jennings, Brownell is blessed with a solid ACC frontcourt who have proven their ability to rebound and score.

All they need now is a little more consistency.

They’ll be joined in the starting lineup by emerging wing forward K.J. McDaniels, who had an inconsistent freshman season but showed signs of promise as the year progressed.

The biggest question for Clemson is in the backcourt, where three players are battling it out for the point guard role handled so capably last season by graduated senior Andre Young. Of the group, sophomore Rod Hall has the most experience – though not much. But freshmen Adonis Filer and Jordan Roper are top talents who have the ability to contribute right away.

Another newcomer, Jaron Blossomgame was penciled in for the shooting guard position vacated by Tanner Smith. With his development slowed by an offseason broken leg, the Tigers will now likely turn to sophomore Demarcus Harrison, a transfer from BYU who was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA.

Quotable quote: “We feel like we have, if not the best, one of the best frontcourts in the conference. I can pull another big man out and take him to the hole or I can go inside. And Book can take his man outside or he can go inside. So it’s going to be a mismatch problem for most of the teams in our league.” Senior forward Milton Jennings.

Projection: One of the trademarks of Brownell’s teams, dating back to his days at UNC Wilmington, is that his teams have always been better at the end of their seasons than they were at the start. They’re also famous for their tenacious defense.

Booker

They’re both trends that continued in each of his first two seasons at Clemson.

Brownell’s first group of Tigers used a late surge to earn an NCAA tournament bid in 2010-11. Although last year’s team missed out on the postseason, it came close by winning five of its last seven behind a defense that allowed opponents to score only 60.6 ppg.

Because of the makeup of the Tigers’ current roster, this year’s team also figures to be a major work in progress. Whether that translates into a first-division ACC finish and a return to the postseason will depend on the performance of Booker and Jennings, the emergence of a point guard and the rapid development of the 11 freshmen and sophomores that dominate the roster.